Dmytro Dontsov (1883–1973), Ukrainian literary critic and political activist, founder of the theory of integral nationalism.
Early Life and Education
Dmytro Ivanovych Dontsov (August 30, 1883, Melitopol – March 30, 1973, Canada) was a Ukrainian literary critic, publicist, political thinker, and the founder of the theory of integral nationalism.
He was born on August 30, 1883 (other sources suggest September 10). After finishing secondary school in Melitopol in 1900, he moved to Tsarskoye Selo near St. Petersburg to study law at St. Petersburg University, graduating in 1907.
Political Beginnings
As a student, Dontsov became deeply engaged in politics. In 1905, he joined the Ukrainian Social Democratic Workers’ Party (USDRP). He was arrested twice: first in 1905 in St. Petersburg, and again in 1908 in Kyiv. After eight months in prison, he was released on bail and emigrated to Galicia and later Austria-Hungary.
Between 1909–1911, Dontsov studied at the University of Vienna, where he married Ukrainian student Maria Bachynska. In 1911, he moved to Lviv to continue his studies, earning a Doctor of Law degree in 1917.
World War I and the Union for the Liberation of Ukraine
In 1913, following a conflict over national issues, Dontsov left the USDRP. On August 4, 1914, he became the first head of the Union for the Liberation of Ukraine (SVU).
He lived in Vienna and Berlin, and later in Switzerland, where he actively worked for the SVU. In early 1918, he returned to Kyiv and became director of the Ukrainian Telegraph Agency under Hetman Pavlo Skoropadsky’s government. Together with Vyacheslav Lypynsky and others, he co-founded the Farmers-Democrats Party.
From 1919 to 1921, he headed the Ukrainian Press Bureau at the UPR embassy in Bern, Switzerland.
Interwar Activities
From 1922, Dontsov lived in Lviv, where he edited influential journals such as Literary-Scientific Herald, Zahrava, and Visnyk. His works also appeared in German, Swiss, and Polish periodicals.
He published essays on political figures (Mussolini, Hitler), translated Mein Kampf into Ukrainian, and in 1926 wrote his most influential book: “Nationalism”, which became the ideological foundation of Ukrainian integral nationalism.
Emigration and Later Life
In 1939, with the Soviet and Nazi invasions of Poland, Dontsov emigrated. He lived in Bucharest, Prague, Germany, Paris, the United States, and finally Canada.
From 1947 until his death in 1973, he lived in Montreal, where he taught Ukrainian literature at a local university (1948–1953).
Dmytro Dontsov died on March 30, 1973 in Montreal. He was buried in South Bound Brook, New Jersey, at the Ukrainian cemetery — a symbolic resting place for many leaders of the Ukrainian diaspora.
Legacy
Dmytro Dontsov remains one of the most controversial figures in Ukrainian history. His theory of integral nationalism deeply influenced interwar nationalist movements, including the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN).
Admired by some as a defender of radical national independence and criticized by others for authoritarian elements in his ideology, Dontsov’s works continue to spark debate. Nevertheless, his role as a literary critic, political thinker, and cultural activist firmly secured him a place in the history of modern Ukrainian thought.